Impedance apparatus for producing rapid irregular changes in current flow



Sept. 4, 1956 F. F. CONSTANTINE IMPEDANCE APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING RAPID IRREGULAR CHANGES IN CURRENT FLOW Filed Feb. 8, 1952 Ferdina nd" Conszantine BY /0 m M f ATTOR i=1 5 United States Patent IMPEDANCE APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING RAPID IRREGULAR CHANGES IN CUR- RENT FLOW Ferdinand F. Constantine, West Caldwell, N. J.

Application February 8, 1952, Serial No. 270,720

4 Claims. (Cl. 307-157) This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Serial No. 151,266, filed March 22, 1950 now Patent No. 2,631,040, March 10, 1953.

This invention relates to regulator apparatus for securing unusual electrical impedance etfects and more particularly to impedance apparatus for producing random, rapid, irregular changes in the current flow through an electrical load. The present invention is embodied in a variable impedance .regulator device adapted to be placed in an electrical circuit in series with one or more electrical loads through which the current flow is to be controlled. These regulators may be used, for instance, to control the intensity of illumination from incandescent electric lighting units in order to simulate the flickering of light from a flame or a fireplace; another use is to control the ringing of a bell to produce an interesting and unusual bell sound.

According to the present invention a current flow regulator which automatically, rapidly and irregularly changes its impedance is provided as an enclosed selfcontained unit. This unit has a pair of terminals so that it can be inserted in series with a load circuit by the expedient of plugging the circuit into one terminal of the regulator unit and then plugging the other terminal of the regulator into an electrical outlet.

Regulator apparatus according to the present invention preferably includes a shunt filter element to prevent any interference of the apparatus with communication equipment, such as radios or television sets.

Various arrangements have been used to control current flow, for example, such as to control the intensity of illumination from incandescent electric lighting units. Most of these arrangements have provided a gradually changing level of illumination, for instance, gradually dimming or brightening a set of lights, or have provided cyclic changes in the level of illumination, such as by periodically turning a light on and off. In many instances these arrangements have been complex or have required manual control or supervision, whereas regulator units according to this invention are entirely self contained and do not require any attention. When they are inserted into a circuit, they require only a brief period of a few seconds for warm-up and then the operation begins. Furthermore, in normal operation, a regulator according to this invention provides a total of at least two years of continuous service or an equivalent increased length of service it operated intermittently.

When used to control the current flow through an incandenscent electric light, a regulator embodying the present invention provides a random flickering eifect different from such previous effects. For example, an incandescent light with a red or a yellow colored globe can be placed in a fireplace behind the logs on the andirons and the flickering produced by a regulator according to this invention is remarkably similar to that which is produced by a fire among the logs. Also, theseregulators can be inserted in series with some of the incandescent lights used on Christmas trees or in candelabra to simulate the effect of a candle flame. From a distance the effect is remarkably similar to that produced by a candle or the candles in a candelabrum and this effect is increased if each one of the individual lights in a candelabrum is connected with an individual regulator so that the flickering of each light is independent of the other lights. Such an arrangement is entirely feasible because of the inexpensiveness and long life of regulators which this invention makes possible.

When connected in series with other load circuits a regulator embodying the present invention causes interesting and unusual effects due to the rapid, random and irregular changes in current flow, for example, as when connected to a bell or when used to generate random electrical signals.

Other features and objects of this invention will be in part pointed out and in part apparent from the following description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a regulator embodying the present invention and adapted for controlling current flow through an electrical load;

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the regulator of Figure 1, showing the internal arrangement of the components thereof; and

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the circuit of this unit.

The regulator, generally indicated at 10, includes a casing 11 of electrically insulating material, for example, such as a cardboard tube, a pair of flexible input and outlet cables, 12 and 13, respectively, and an input plug 14 and an output socket 15. in order to use the regulator 10, the output plug 14 is inserted into a convenient outlet of electrical power, for example, such as a wall-type outlet for volts as conventionally used in many homes, and a load circuit through which the cur rent flow is to be controlled is plugged into the socket 15. Thus, the impedance unit 10 is placed in series with the load it controls by the use of the plug 14 and the socket 15.

Housed within the casing 11 are a relatively large filter condenser 16, a smaller by-pass or rate of variation controlling condenser 17, and a variable impedance unit or glow switch, generally indicated at 18. It should be noted that the input cord 12 includes a pair of leads 19 and 20, and that one terminal of the filter condenser 17 is connected to the lead 20 at a junction 21. In order to insulate this junction 21 and to secure the two conensers 16 and 1'7 and the glow switch 18 within the casing 11, a plug of relatively quick setting material, for example, such as sealing wax, is cast about the junction 21 and the end of the condenser 16. This plug 22 may be formed by holding the casing 11 in a vertical position with the electrical components in place as shown in Figure 2 and with the junction 21 upwardly and then pouring the material into the end of the casing 11 where it quickly sets to form the plug 22.

As shown in Figure 3, the input lead 19 is connected to one terminal 24 of the filter condenser 16 'and of the rate of response controlling condenser 17 and to a terminal 25 of the glow switch 18. The other'terminal 26 of-the switch 18 and the terminal 27 of the condenser 17 are connected to the output plug 15 through a lead 28. The input lead 20 is connected to the output plug 15 through a lead 36 connected to the junction 21. i

The variable impedance unit or glow switch 18 may be of a type ordinarily used for starting fluorescent lamps and comprises a hermetically-sealed glass envelope 31 which contains an ionizable gas, such as argon or helium; or a mixture of such gases. Two normally spaced electrodes 32 and 33 are mounted within the envelope and connected respectively to terminals 25 and 26. The electrode 32, for example, may be in the form of a metal rod, of nickel or other suitable material, and the electrode 33 comprises a bi-metallic strip formed of two strips of metal having difierent coeflicients of linear expansion and securely welded together. The inner strip has a greater coefiicient of expansion than the outer strip, so that as the temperature is increased the free end of the electrode 33 moves toward the electrode 32, and moves away from the electrode 32 with decreasing temperature. Such glow switches are commonly used for starting fluorescent lights and may be incorporated in the arrangement described herein. They should not be confused with the ordinary circuit maker and breaker of the type having a bi-metallic strip which opens and closes a circuit on a regular time cycle.

In operation, when a suitable voltage, for example 115 volts A. C., is applied to the leads 19 and 20, and a load, for example an incandescent lighting unit is plugged into the output plug 15, the gas in the envelope 31 is ionized by the voltage appearing between the electrodes 32 and 33, allowing a small amount of current to flow through the incandescent light load and causing it to glow at low intensity. This current through the interrupter 18 causes the electrode 33 to become heated so that the end of the electrode 33 moves toward electrode 32 and makes contact with it to complete the circuit through the incandescent light and cause it to glow at full brilliancy. As soon as the contact between electrodes 32 and 33 is completed, the electrode 33 begins to cool because the gas has been de-ionized and the resistance of electrode 33 is relatively small. The end of electrode 33 moves away from the electrode 32 to open the circuit of the light. The gas then immediately ionizes again causing the lighting load to glow dimly and the temperature of electrode 33 again to increase. This cycle is repeated but only at a relatively rapid and wholly irregular rate thus producing the desired flickering effect.

The irregular random rate at which the current through the load plugged into the output plug 15 varies depends, among other factors, upon the pressure of the gas in the envelope 31. I have found that a slight variation in the pressure of the gas from that used in conventional fluorescent lamp starters produces a random irregular and rapid variation in current flow such as is desirable for my purposes. Glow switches of the general type used in this embodiment of the invention are described more fully in U. S. Patents 2,332,809 and 2,329,134.

Another factor controlling the rate of flickering is the by-pass or rate of response controlling condenser 17 which is connected across the terminals 25 and 26 of the glow switch 18. In general, I have found that the condenser 17 retards the rate of response of the impedance unit 18 and that a condenser having a capacitance of about .002 microfarad is very satisfactory. This condenser 17 also acts to suppress any high frequency or static signals which might otherwise interfere with local communication apparatus such as radios or television sets.

In order effectively to filter any high frequency static signals from the leads 19 and 20, to prevent such signals from travelling to the plug 14 and into the power mains where these signals might interfere with nearby communication equipment, etc., the filter condenser 16 is connected therebetween. I have found that this condenser 16 may have a capacitance of approximately 0.1 microfarad.

Although Figure 2 shows two mechanically separate condensers 16 and 17, it is understood that the word condenser may rnean an arrangement for producing an electrical capacitance so that the condensers 16 and 17 may be included in a single mechanical envelope with a plurality of electrical connections thereto.

In explaining the operation of the glow switch 18, it was assumed th he l d p gged i o he outpu p ug .1 was an incandescent lighting unit, I have found that the impedance regulator apparatus op s to pr duce rapid random fluctuations in current flow with any load which has the characteristic of drawing current whenever a voltage is applied across its terminals, since a small continuous flow of current through the load is necessary to ionize the gas within the envelope 31 whenever the con tacts 32 and 33 separate. An example of such a load is an incandescent light. Another example is a door bell of the vibrating armature type in which sufiicient current is QQnducItid t ionize the gas between the electrodes 32 and 33 when the bell contacts are closed. The bell may be directly plugged into the output plug 15 or connected thereto through a suitable step-down transformer.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a regulating component made in accordance with the present invention is well adapted to attain the ends and objects hereinbefore set forth and to be economically manufactured since both the article and the method of making it are suited to common production methods and are susceptible to a wide latitude of variations as may be desirable in adapting the invention to different applications.

As various embodiments may be made of the above invention and as changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A variable impedance unit for producing rapid irregular changes in the current flow through an electrical load comprising an input plug, first and second input leads connected to said plug, a filter capacitance arrangement, a pair of terminals on said filter capacitance arrangement, each one of said terminals being connected to one of said input leads, a glow switch including means for automatically and continually rapidly randomly varying its electrical impedance, :1 pair of terminals on said glow switch, a rate of response controlling capacitance arrangement connected between the terminals of said glow switch to affect the rate of the random variations of the impedance thereof, an output plug, first and second output leads connected to said output plug, one of the terminals of said glow switch being connected to the first of said input leads, the other terminal of said glow switch being connected to the first of said output leads, said second input and output leads being connected together, and an electrically insulating casing surrounding said two capacitance arrangements and said glow switch to form a selfcontained impedance unit.

2. An electrical current flow regulating apparatus for producing automatic, continual, and irregular changes in current flow comprising, an input plug adapted to be insorted into an electrical power outlet socket, an output socket adapted to receive a plug connected to a load through which the current flow is to be regulated, first and second input leads connected to said input plug, first and second output leads connected to said output socket, a glow switch, a pair of terminals on said glow switch, said glow switch being of the type ordinarily used for starting fluorescent lamps and including first and second electrodes, said second electrode having a bi-metallic strip arranged to complete the circuit between said electrodes when its temperature is increased for rapidly and irregularly varying the impedance between said terminals. :1 control condenser connected between the terminals of said glow switch for affecting the rate of impedance variation of said glow switch, one of the terminals of said glow switch being connected to said first input lead and the other terminal being connected to said first output lead, said second input and output leads being joined at a junction, a filter condenser, a pair of terminals on said filter condenser, one of the terminals of said filter condenser being connected to the junction of said second input and output leads, the other terminal of said filter condenser being connected to one of the terminals of said glow switch, and an electrically insulating casing surrounding said two condensers and said glow switch to 3. An electrical current flow regulating apparatus for 'ng automatic, continual, and irregular changes in flow comp sing, an input plug adapted to be inserted into an electrical power outlet socket, an output socket adapted to receive a plug connected to a load through which the current flow is to be regulated, first and second input leads connected to said input plug, first and second output leads connected to said output socket, a glow switch, a pair of terminals on said glow switch, said glow switch being of the type ordinarily used for starting fluorescent lamps and including first and second electrodes, said second electrode having a bi-metallic strip arranged to complete the circuit between said electrodes when its temperature is increased for rapidly and irregularly varying the impedance between said terminals, a control condenser connected between the terminals of said glow switch for affecting the rate of impedance variation of said glow switch, one of the terminals of said glow switch being connected to said first input lead and the other terminal being connected to said first output lead, said second input and output leads being joined at a junction, a filter condenser having the same external diameter as said glow unit, a pair of terminals on said filter condenser, one of the terminals of said filter condenser being connected to the junction of said second input and output leads, the other terminal of said filter condenser being connected to one or" the terminals of said glow switch, said condensers and said glow switch being physically arranged in an end-to-end relationship along a substantially straight line, with said control condenser being located between said filter condenser and said glow switch, and an electrically insulating tubular casing surrounding said two condensers and said glow switch, said filter condenser and glow switch snugly fitting into the opposite ends of said tubular casing to form a self-contained variable impedance apparatus thereof, an insulating plug surrounding said junction and sealing one end of said tubular casing, said second input and output leads forming a continuous line through said casing and being adapted to withstand any tensile forces applied to said input and output leads.

4. A component for providing a randomly and rapidly varying electrical current conductively comprising an input connection unit, an output connection unit, first and second in -ut leads connected to said input unit, first and second output leads connected to said output unit, a glow switch having a pair of terminals, said glow switch including an ionizable gas and first and second electrodes immersed in said gas, said second electrode having a bi-nietallic strip arranged to complete a circuit between said electrodes when its temperature i increased for rapidly and randomly varying the conductivity between said terminals, 21 control condenser of approximately .002 microfarad connected between said terminals for affecting the rate of the changes in the current conduction therebetween, one of said terminals being connected to said first input lead and the other terminal being connected to said first output lead, said second input and output leads being joined at a junction, a filter condenser of approximately .1 microfarad connected between one of said terminais and said junction, and an electrically insulating easing housing said two condensers and switch to form a self contained variable conductivity component.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,329,134 Peters Sept. 7, 1943 2,332,809 Peters Oct. 26, 1943 2,631,040 Constantine Mar. 10, 1953 

